"I come into this fight and I fight my hardest and I'm going to get the upset win," Johnson said. "I like being in this position. My back's against the wall. I'm in a corner. I got to fight out of it and that's what I'm going to do."

Javier Mendez, Nurmagomedov's coach, believes that he was used as a pawn in Conor McGregor's shot at the title. Regardless of any behind-the-scenes politics, Johnson doesn't believe he should be even be in the conversation.

"[Nurmagomedov's] talking all this talk about title shots and this and that — He fights once a year. A guy that fights once a year doesn't deserve a title fight. Stay active. Beat some of the top guys, then start talking about it," Johnson said. "Come Saturday night, the words "title shot" won't even be in his mouth. He'll be thinking about rebuilding and trying to get another win."